Hi, my name is Bryan, I'm disabled and am a new Tech licensee as of September 7. I plan on upgrading to General in October. I know that many people suggest taking both tests at once, but I couldn't cram my head that full, or else it would explode. I plan on buying a Baofeng UV-5R HT, but my heart belongs to shortwave. I have been a SWL since 1986, but DXing is no longer fun. I was listening to 41m and 49m at 1 am Pacific time recently, and only heard a handful of Russian and Chinese domestics, and the American robostations. Once upon a time those bands would have been filled with cool stuff from Asia at that time. So I finally got licensed.

Bryan, welcome! A lot of us became hams after being SWLs. You still have a WORLD of potential fun with a Tech license--I worked most of my first 100 countries as a Tech, mostly on 15m CW. If you think it's fun hearing Tahiti on 11MHz as a SWL, just wait until you WORK Tahiti on 15 meters! ;-) Have fun, and 73! --ken ac4rd

As an SWL I think you will find amateur HF operations to be a ball! There are so many different types of transmission modes, and the constantly changing propagation on the different band always bring surprises.

Set your sights on getting that General ticket since it will open up all the band and modes for you. This is a life long hobby and it is impossible to to know everything at the start, or even after years of operations. Make a good effort at studying but don't be afraid to challenge the test.

I'm not sure a HT can reach that far. I mean, when you have a 4w HT, even with a proper whip antenna...

I was under the impression that the ISS is hands off for civilian hams-you can listen but not QSO, because it's considered military comms. It would still make for interesting DX anyway. Listening to Mission Control talk with the astronauts sounds cool.

Hi, my name is Bryan, I'm disabled and am a new Tech licensee as of September 7. I plan on upgrading to General in October. I know that many people suggest taking both tests at once, but I couldn't cram my head that full, or else it would explode. I plan on buying a Baofeng UV-5R HT, but my heart belongs to shortwave. I have been a SWL since 1986, but DXing is no longer fun. I was listening to 41m and 49m at 1 am Pacific time recently, and only heard a handful of Russian and Chinese domestics, and the American robostations. Once upon a time those bands would have been filled with cool stuff from Asia at that time. So I finally got licensed.

KJ6ZOL

RE: SWLing 41 meters:The 40 meter / 41 meter band has a lot more signals from Asia later in the a.m., around 6 a.m. Pacific Time. Same with 31 meters. You can also sometimes hear South Asia from the West Coast during that time period.

Congratulations Bryan.I started in SWL myself. It was fun and informative. Welcome to the new hobby.

I have a UV-5R myself and you will be surprised what you can do with 4 watts, good coax and a good outside antenna. Remember to program some distant repeaters into your UV-5R, monitor http://aprs.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/ and when conditions are favorable you can "DX" more than a hundred miles.

I plan on buying a Baofeng UV-5R HT, but my heart belongs to shortwave.

Welcome Bryan:

I too came to ham radio from SWL.If your heart belongs to shortwave, save themoney that you would spend on the HT andput it towards your HF station.

There is a LOT of good used older solid stategear out there. You can put together a decentHF station for $500 to $600 or less.

I would attend some club meetings andmake some friends. They may even loan youone of their "backup" rigs until you can save upfor your own. AND they will be invaluable for advisewhen it comes to evaluating a used rig you may wantto buy, setting up your station, and putting up antennas.If you go to one club meeting and don't meet anyonewho seemsthat friendly or outgoing, try others.Some ham clubs can be quite cliquish.73, Ken AD6KA

I plan on buying a Baofeng UV-5R HT, but my heart belongs to shortwave.

Welcome Bryan:

I too came to ham radio from SWL.If your heart belongs to shortwave, save themoney that you would spend on the HT andput it towards your HF station.

There is a LOT of good used older solid stategear out there. You can put together a decentHF station for $500 to $600 or less.

I would attend some club meetings andmake some friends. They may even loan youone of their "backup" rigs until you can save upfor your own. AND they will be invaluable for advisewhen it comes to evaluating a used rig you may wantto buy, setting up your station, and putting up antennas.If you go to one club meeting and don't meet anyonewho seemsthat friendly or outgoing, try others.Some ham clubs can be quite cliquish.73, Ken AD6KA

I found an Elmer who gave me an old Heathkit SB-102. With matching power supply. He says I can have it as soon as I show him a CSCE for Element 3, and I take the test Oct 3. He was happy to get rid of the old Heathkit, he fixes up old transceivers and sells them to hams needing HF, but he really had no use for something that was mostly tubes. I like it cause it's easy to fix, and pretty simple. I can always get something better later. I already bought the HT, it was only $45 so it wasn't real pricey. I am paying off some debt from a failed business venture that bankruptcy didn't wipe out (NEVER cosign a loan for your kid, my mom wishes she hadn't!) and simply can't afford a big setup right now.

Welcome! I started out as an SWL'r too. I used a homebrew regenerative receiver that the town drunk radio repairman put together for me. Now it's 63 years later and I am still in love with ham radio. You are about to become involved with the most incredible hobby in the world!

I too had an SB-102, matching power supply, station monitor and matching SB speaker. I built all of them and will tell you right off, they don't have the sophistication of the newer gear but they served me very well. I worked the world with that 102. Don't ever sell it short or let anyone give you a hard time over it.

I hope you get your General ASAP Bryan. Take some advice from this old man.... get the General but don't stop there. While you're expanding your head, keep it going. It's much easier to continue than to stop and then have to backtrack and start again.

Good luck, and have fun. There are always some folks willing to give you a hand, I am a 100% disabled vet, and have a great station, and multiple antennas and even a 40 foot tower. My friends have helped me with all this stuff. so be friendly, help others when you can and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

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